A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch will add 5-6 player support and a number of new features in the upcoming extension to the existing game by Fantasy Flight Games. A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch adds several new mechanisms to the classic Catan gameplay. Players step into the roles of brothers of the Night’s Watch, who are tasked with recruiting guards for the wall and developing the Gift.

“The northern region known as the Gift was bestowed on the Night’s Watch thousands of years ago. This fertile land provides the Watch with lumber, brick, wool, grain, and ore. At least, it used to. As the Watch has become forgotten by the lords and ladies of Westeros, the infrastructure of the Gift has fallen into disrepair and the Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont, is willing to give anything to one who can restore the Gift to its former glory, even naming them as his successor.”[source]

Players are locked in competition to become the next Lord Commander by building roads, settlements, and keeps. Purchasing Development Cards and recruiting guards to defend the Wall are also crucial in proving players’ worth. With the addition of two more players, more land and paths are made available in an extended version of the game. The addition of a Special Build Phase in each player’s turn allows them to set each other apart as they spend their resources on unique, new opportunities.

4 new hero cards have also been added to hero display including the iconic Jon Snow who is able to protect a player from the robber, Tormund Giantsbane. The other heroes making their debut are Osha, Gilly, and Aemon Targaryen. Of course, to help balance out the boost to the players there’s an equal boost to the opposition in the form of mammoths to assist the two new Wildling clans.

A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watch supports 3-4 players without the expansion, and 3-6 players including it. A typical game lasts 60-75 minutes though that will probably be lengthier with the extra players. The game was designed by Klaus Teuber and Benjamin Teuber and the extension should be released soon.

The Brothers of the Night’s Watch seek a new leader from among their ranks. Jeor Mormont wishes to promote one who can improve the infrastructure of the Gift, the bountiful and undeveloped area south of the Wall bestowed to the Watch by the Starks thousands of years ago. Drawing sustenance from the unforgiving landscape of the north offers enough challenges, but whomever takes up this task must also man and defend the Wall against the onslaught of Wildlings fighting their way into Westeros. Many brothers now compete to build, defend, and do what they can to protect Westeros, but only one shall rise above their brothers to become the new Lord Commander. But be wary—the north holds many dangers, and winter is coming.

The areas within the Gift are made of resources needed to supply the stalwart brothers of the Night’s Watch. Players will build roads, settlements, and keeps; recruit guards for patrolling; and buy development cards. However, the areas surrounding the Gift are dangerous and must be managed in addition to gathering resources. Tormund Giantsbane, a wildling from the north, has crossed the wall and robs Brothers of their hard earned resources. Wildling forces gather in the Frostfangs, and each player may recruit up to seven brothers from the Westeros prisons to man a section of the wall. Finally, each player commands a unique hero, based on the order of play. These heroes (Jeor Mormont, Bowen Marsh, Samwell Tarly, and Othell Yarwyck) have a unique ability that can be used twice during the game. Other heroes are available to select once your hero’s ability has been used.

At the start of their turn, a player rolls three dice: two to indicate which resources will be harvested from the Gift and one to determine which, if any, Wildlings advance toward the Wall. However, fortifying the Wall has consequences, as those comfortable settlements and keeps attract the notice of the Wildlings. Any time a player builds a settlement or keep, they reveal a number of facedown Wilding tokens in the Frostfangs, and further their inevitable advance toward the Wall.

Of course, the most important duty of the Night’s Watch is to defend the people of Westeros from the feral Wildlings that dwell beyond the Wall. The Wildling clans consist of Regular, Climbers, and Giants that gather and move southward toward the wall once revealed. Players must hire Guards and earn their loyalty by giving them goods in return for their protection.

The protection of the wall must be delicately balanced with the gathering of resources and establishment of settlements, and in familiar fashion, the first player to 10 victory points wins. However, A Game of Thrones Catan: Brotherhood of the Watchhas two forms of possibly victory. If the Wildlings breach the wall three times, the game ends immediately and the player commanding the most guards holding their posts at the wall wins.

The first expansion for the Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne board game has been announced by Fantasy Flight Games. The Wars to Come expansion increases the maximum player count from five to seven players, allowing you to enjoy its negotiations and hostilities with as many as six of your friends. Become ironborn with House Greyjoy or unbowed, unbent, and unbroken with House Martell.

Along with ten new leaders, divided between two new Houses—House Greyjoy and House Martell—The Wars to Come features everything you and your friends need to expand your games of The Iron Throne to seven players.

Additionally, The Wars to Come introduces a deck of twenty-five new allies. These iconic characters root your schemes and politics more firmly in the world of HBO’s acclaimed Game of Thrones, even as they permit access to a wide range of new abilities that can dramatically change the shape of a battle—or even the game!

The Wars to Come is scheduled to arrive at retailers in the second quarter of 2017!

Fantasy Flight has added another title to their ever growing list of fourth quarter releases. A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King, by Bruno Cathala, lets players be cutthroat and ruthless to gain the most influence by the end of the game. That player is then named Hand of the King, second most powerful person in Westeros.

A Tournament and Feast is being held in Kings Landing and, if you believe the rumors, a new Hand of the King will be announced at the conclusion of the event. Ambitious men have acted upon less rewarding rumors, and this one has brought all the major houses. Stark, Greyjoy, Lannister, Targaryen, Baratheon, Tyrell, and Tully have all turned up and are weaving a web of intrigue with their eye on the most coveted title. As with any web, you know that the Spider must be close, and this is no different. The path to victory is to know how to make allies, and when to betray them.

Players use Varys, the Master of Whispers, convince or coerce members of a house to join your plot to be the next Hand. Each turn Varys is moved in the six by six grid of cards to gain one or more members of a house. Get enough members of a house to win the support of their banner, and when the last card of a House is claimed, you may choose a companion’s ability to trigger.

Last year Fantasy Flight Games rebooted the Game of Thrones LCG with a 2nd edition, and today they have announced the second deluxe expansion for the game, Lions of Casterly Rock. This expansion will mainly focus on the Lannister family and will expand their forces, from the announcement;

Within this expansion, the Lannisters explore new themes, launching an ambush with their Clansman allies, redoubling their focus on the intrigue challenge, and sending out marauders to pillage the lands of Westeros. You’ll also find new versions of the most iconic Lannister characters, including Tywin Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Ser Jaime Lannister, and Tyrion Lannister.

You can check out the full preview on FFG’s site and look forward to the release of the expansion in quarter 3 of 2016.

Fantasy Flight Games will produce the Game of Thrones: The Trivia Game based on the hit HBO television series. FFG has stated that the game should be available during the first quarter of 2016.

During the game players will attempt to take over various castles in Westeros by successfully answering trivia questions based on the show. On their turn a player will wager how much territory of a castle they want to capture. The higher the number a player wagers determines how many sections they will claim if they are able to correctly answer all the questions given to them. But, the number wagered is also the number of correct answers needed in order to be successful.

Each castle is split into seven sections. If a player attempts to gain two sections of the castle they must make a wager of two. In order to successfully claim the two sections the player must answer two trivia questions correctly. If the player is not able to answer both questions, they do not gain the territory.

“Game of Thrones: The Trivia Game includes over 1,200 questions, labeled by season so that you can play in order of the series to avoid spoiling seasons for players who haven’t seen them all, or shuffle all cards together for an encompassing game. Most cards are double-sided with three questions on each side. The type of marker you place determines which questions you answer. Small markers compel you to answer the first (and usually easiest) question, medium markers force you to answer the other two, and a large marker, all three. By choosing what size of marker to place, you also choose the difficulty of your questions.”

The game will also come with an advanced variant where answering questions correctly will earn you resources that may be used to buy cards that represent characters from the show. You may also use the resources as a bargaining chip to gain alliances with other players. When a player can’t answer a question correctly they may offer the resources as a reward to try and get the other players to answer the question for them.

Your knowledge and cunning is what will guide you towards victory. This is more than a simple trivia game, this is the Game of Thrones.

For the night is dark and full of versions of the boardgame stalwart Risk. The latest version arrives like one of the less surprising plot twists from the HBO fantasy series “Game of Thrones” and like the show, it’s well worth a look. The Wall Street Journal has an exclusive sneak peek of the game created by USAopoly under license from Hasbro in partnership with HBO.

The game has more than 650 pieces, including two custom game boards, seven sculpted armies, seven player boards and 28 character cards. With three ways to play, this edition of Risk is for 2-7 players ages 18 and older.

The armies are split into two types of unit and a “seat of power”. They will fight across two different game boards depicting Westeros and Essos across three different game modes. The modes are “War of the five kings ” (for 3-5 players), a 2 player game against slavers in Essos and a two map full battle featuring all seven houses. Houses featured are Stark, Baratheon, Lannister, Tyrell, Martell, Targaryen and Ghiscari (slavers in Essos). There are various types of cards that affect territories, tactics and objectives as well as gold dragon coins that can be used as purchasing power. As an added bonus the game features silver foil stamps of the various house sigils and army storage containers. It looks to be a fantastic package perfect for xmas presents for Game of Thrones fans. For once I won’t be sad that Winter is coming….in August.

This November doesn’t come without some fun and exciting news from Fantasy Flight Games.

Star Wars: Age of Rebellion: Stay on Target: A Sourcebook for Aces

This is the first book-length supplement for the Age of Rebellion Roleplaying Game. This expansion focuses on expanding the Ace career by allowing Ace characters to hone their talents with new levels. There will be three new Ace specializations, new signature abilities, playable species, star fighters, modifications and equipment. This also offers new options for any character that wants to master a straighter, vehicle or alien mount.

Star Wars LCG: Draw Their Fire Force Pack

This is the second force pack in the Rogue Squadron cycle. It will include new fate cards, alongside vehicles and characters like Jedi Master Qu Rahn and ace pilot Maarek Stele.

A Game of Thrones LCG: The Valemen

This is the third chapter pack in the Wardens cycle. This pack will focus on giving more support to “limited responses,” trait-based decks, and the game’s most expensive and recognizable character.

Warhammer 40,000: Conquest LCG: The Scourge War Pack

This is the second War Pack in the Warlord cycle. The pack introduces a new warlord, Ku’gath Plaquefather. It will also include new cards for each faction to include Space Wolves for the Space Marines, Attack Squigs for the Orks, and a battle tactics for the Tau.

Android: Netrunner LCG Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Bring the high-stakes cyberstruggles of Android: Netrunner to your store, and tap into your local player base with Summer 2014 Tournament Kits! Based on Netrunner, Richard Garfield’s classic card game, Android: Netrunner pits runner against megacorp in a near-future dystopian society.

The Summer 2014 Android: Netrunner Tournament Kit contains everything you need to run an Android: Netrunner tournament or league, including alternate art versions of two of the game’s most popular cards: Aesop’s Pawnshop and the corp ID Jinteki: Personal Evolution.

Along with these exclusive cards, the Summer 2014 Tournament Kit also contains a playmat, two deck boxes, a promotional poster, and an info booklet.

Call of Cthulhu LCG: Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Summon powers beyond human comprehension! The Summer 2014 Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game Tournament Kits support your local Call of Cthulhu player base.

Each kit contains exclusive alternate art editions of two of the game’s most popular cards: Snow Graves and Cthuloid Spawn, plus two Call of Cthulhu deck boxes featuring the Cthulhu and Agency factions. Inside each kit you’ll also find a custom Call of Cthulhu playmat, an info booklet, and a promotional poster.

A Game of Thrones LCG: Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Summer 2014 Tournament Kits for A Game of Thrones: The Card Game transport players to a Westeros scarred by the War of the Five Kings.

Each kit contains exclusive alternate art editions of two of the game’s most popular cards: Crossing the Ruby Ford and Castellan of the Rock, along with a custom playmat. You’ll also find A Game of Thrones deck boxes featuring House Martell and House Greyjoy, as well as an info booklet and a promotional poster.

Star Wars LCG: Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Make your store a hub of excitement and galactic confrontation with Summer 2014 Star Wars: The Card Game Tournament Kits! Each Tournament Kit comes with materials to run a tournament in your store.

In addition to a custom playmat, informational pamphlet, and a promotional poster, the Summer 2014 Star Wars: The Card Game Tournament Kit features alternate art versions of two of the game’s most popular cards: Grand Moff Tarkin and Rogue Three. Inside each kit, you’ll also find two Star Wars deck boxes featuring the Rebel and Imperial factions, an info booklet, and a promotional poster.

Star Wars X-Wing: Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Build your local player community for X-Wing, the tabletop miniatures game of fast-paced Star Wars dogfights! The Summer 2014 X-Wing Tournament Kit includes a range of prizes and resources to help you run a tournament in your store. Reward the top competitor with an attractive medal, and offer other contenders custom acrylic tokens or alternate art cards for Imperial and Rebel pilots featuring stills from the Star Wars movies!

The Summer 2014 Tournament Kit also includes two X-Wing card boxes, featuring a TIE Bomber and B-Wing. What’s more, you can learn how to run your own tournament with the included info booklet, and draw players in with the included promotional poster.

Warhammer: Diskwars: Summer 2014 Tournament Kit

Brand new in 2014 are Tournament Kits for Warhammer: Diskwars. Support and expand your local player base with prize support and materials for running a Warhammer: Diskwars tournament in your store!

Each kit contains acrylic damage tokens, and two card boxes, along with alternate art Command cards: Arcane Assault and Rally. Bring order to the Old World with the included info booklet, and recruit new players to your tournament with a promotional poster.